since 1973, i've never been 'without' a pair of large advents. across the board, they play as flat as a pancake, and never disappoint. they come close in sound to any speaker at any price(even today), and though they aren't the last word in 'anything', when the mood hits, and i want to pull out my classic late 60's, early 70's records(not the audiophile ones, but the ones i really love), there is no better 'fun' speaker than Henry Kloss's masterpiece. As the original instructions once said...'don't spend too much on an amplifier'. i still believe these classic 'fun' speakers, paired with a thorens tt, and a sweet marantz receiver could compete with system at CES or THE show.